Thinking of getting a Commodore 64 computer, what's a fair price?

[Keatah]

What's disgusting is book resellers. They troll the goodwills of the world and get something for 25-cents or a dollar. Then they go on ebay and mark it up to $30!

 

[carlsson]

Yep, I've read about those people who go into charity shops with ISBN scanners trying to find books that can be resold. For the longest, I thought there was zero value in books of any kind (except perhaps silver bibles), given how people routinely throw away books in the trash or even put fire to them to get some last use, but apparently there is enough of a market for that.

 

The reason why sellers at an event would not want to sell way below online market value, is that profiting resellers visit those events too, in hope to score a bargain in order to resell it when they get home. That is very unfortunate, and I've witnessed how some sellers at an event before opening look around at their colleague's tables for items they can pick up cheap and resell at higher value at the very same event. As an event arranger that is hard to prevent unless you make a very specific agreement for vendors that disallows any such behavior, but then it also requires that the arranger keep an eye open all the time.

 

Unfortunately way too much money has been involved in this business. Some of us still do it out of love, for others it is a lucrative business. We need a major financial crash, one that does not only affect the poor people but one that also puts the wealthy people at great risk. I thought that the pandemic would become this crash, but apparently it only divided the rich and poor even further apart, and spiraled the prices one level higher.

[+OLD CS1]

I try to vet potential buyers.

[Keatah]

..of your classic computer stuff?

[+OLD CS1]

11 hours ago, Keatah said:

..of your classic computer stuff?

Yes. 

[Rogerpoco]

14 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

I try to vet potential buyers.

I love language, and claim to know most of the words-

I actually had to look up what you meant by that term, for some reason, just never encountered it IRL.

For SURE!

I was breeding exotics for a while, had big plans, tarantulas, parrots, etc-

Turns out, I can't really sell worth a crap, haha, too damned picky about who I'd sell to, so I eventually gave up.

Didn't realize that(vetting)was a term that applied to me, but interesting to know!!!

[oracle_jedi]

On 1/13/2023 at 12:33 AM, Keatah said:

 

Furthermore I don't recommend getting more than 2 or 3 favorite classic systems. You just spread everything so thin with more than 4. Time. Money. Space. Concentration. Personal interest. All are commodities and resources we don't take inventory of until the hobby (any hobby) consumes us.

[Keatah]

I like that. Looking toward a future filled with emulation!

[Rogerpoco]

51 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I like that. Looking toward a future filled with emulation!

We won't be there, Man.

But unfortunately, eventually that's all our Grandkids, and their Grandkids will have.

I think we should hang on to what we have, for as long as we can and stuff, but if we want the next generations to appreciate the games the way we do, we kinda have to embrace EMU, and support development(Flashbacks...not even close...).

Otherwise, eventually all our consoles and PC's will die, and the games will be lost forever!

Hardware is better than EMU. Yup. No question, and I LOVE collecting it, but again, one day it's all folks will have, and I want people going after my high scores in 100 years!!!

 

[Mr SQL]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:31 AM, OLD CS1 said:

The downside, if you will, to the 64C's Revision E "short-board" is the 8580 SID.  Years of expected behaviors of the 6581 washed away, but for new and intriguing behaviors.  Not a big deal to most people, but I did find some of my favorite older games sounded differently.  Just be aware that could be the problem if something does not sound right, and not that your SID is bad.

 

X2 the 6581 SID sounds phatter, R4 is the best! Some have blown analog filters though, very delicate chip.

I really like the keyboard on the breadbox too, mine came back to life from writing a program and cleaning the contacts.

[Mr SQL]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:33 AM, Keatah said:

 

Furthermore I don't recommend getting more than 2 or 3 favorite classic systems. You just spread everything so thin with more than 4. Time. Money. Space. Concentration. Personal interest. All are commodities and resources we don't take inventory of until the hobby (any hobby) consumes us.

X2 there is so much to explore you may barley scratch the surface otherwise.

[zylon]

20 hours ago, Rogerpoco said:

We won't be there, Man.

But unfortunately, eventually that's all our Grandkids, and their Grandkids will have.

I think we should hang on to what we have, for as long as we can and stuff, but if we want the next generations to appreciate the games the way we do, we kinda have to embrace EMU, and support development(Flashbacks...not even close...).

Otherwise, eventually all our consoles and PC's will die, and the games will be lost forever!

Hardware is better than EMU. Yup. No question, and I LOVE collecting it, but again, one day it's all folks will have, and I want people going after my high scores in 100 years!!!

 

Many of us are already doing pseudo-emulation, whether realized or not. While the systems are original, much of the software is already emulated, via SD loaders, flashcarts, and other similar devices. About the only systems I'm still using original carts and disks, are my C64 and 360.

[Rogerpoco]

34 minutes ago, zylon said:

Many of us are already doing pseudo-emulation, whether realized or not. While the systems are original, much of the software is already emulated, via SD loaders, flashcarts, and other similar devices. About the only systems I'm still using original carts and disks, are my C64 and 360.

Ah, I understand what you are saying, but as a high scorer at a place with stickler rules, using an SD2IEC to load a game on C64, and using a Freeload fastload to speed it up, still produces the EXACT same results as original anything, unlike most emulation.

[zylon]

3 hours ago, Rogerpoco said:

Ah, I understand what you are saying, but as a high scorer at a place with stickler rules, using an SD2IEC to load a game on C64, and using a Freeload fastload to speed it up, still produces the EXACT same results as original anything, unlike most emulation.

It's rare that my FastLoad is ever out of the machine, other than using my multicarts, which might have it built-in. It's great for getting Wheel Of Fortune to start quicker. Probably good for 10% increase on that reliable snail system.  I actually find using my 1541 faster than the sd2iec thingy I have somewhere. Going through the menu takes longer than just putting the disk in, lol. I've been spoiled by the gadgets available for my 600xl

[DragonGrafx-16]

FastLoad never seemed faster to me than just booting into JiffyDos and loading without FastLoad. Or maybe FastLoad wasn't working right with from my EasyFlash 3. IDK

Edited January 17, 2023 by DragonGrafx-16

[+OLD CS1]

11 hours ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

FastLoad never seemed faster to me than just booting into JiffyDos and loading without FastLoad. Or maybe FastLoad wasn't working right with from my EasyFlash 3. IDK

It can depend upon the game.  Some use their own loaders which bypass FastLoad and may be only marginally faster than stock.  But a ton of games I have owned have benefited greatly in initial loading, full loading, data file access, or some combination.

 

EDIT: @DragonGrafx-16 relative to JiffyDOS, yeah, I expect performance to be the same as with FastLoad, but with the benefit of nothing hanging off the cartridge port, just a switch somewhere to turn it off if necessary.

[Rogerpoco]

The main thing I was saying, at the end of the day, once the game IS loaded, it's "the same" as the original, same as flashcarts for consoles.

We NEED EMU, for the future, our kids, Grandkids, etc.

But right now, most are really "still being developed", in the grand scheme.

PC's aren't universally stable, blah, etc.

ATGames makes NO attempt to make their flashbacks anywhere near correct yet(or even playable, in many cases...).

 

I believe those things, Flashbacks/PC EMU WILL eventually stabilize, but comparing them to flashcarts and SD2IEC devices right now is almost entirely incorrect.

 

To clarify-many of the games I am good at are incredibly simple. "Pixel Perfect", you know EXACTLY what to expect, every time.

I've played them all. Console/EMU/Flashback.

This isn't a guess, it's just how it is.

 

[zylon]

So far, mainly paddle or analog things don't emulate well to me, thus my 600xl still on duty for those games, and my 5200 soldiering on. Quite a few things are more than close enough, especially for those not accustomed to the original hardware. I think current prices are spurring some improvement in emulation, as even a dirt stock 600xl/400,or VIC-20, is reaching well over $100 today. After you put the effort and material into modding those up, you're still in the price range for say, a broken 64 or 800xl. For most systems 80's-90's, it's already close enough to matter little. My Atari 8-bit play results are near identical, whether running my old XL, or Win800, except for paddle games.

[jhd]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:46 PM, carlsson said:

Yep, I've read about those people who go into charity shops with ISBN scanners trying to find books that can be resold. For the longest, I thought there was zero value in books of any kind (except perhaps silver bibles), given how people routinely throw away books in the trash or even put fire to them to get some last use, but apparently there is enough of a market for that.

 

I am a very avid book collector and I have encountered a few of these types before. They mildly annoy me, but my collecting interests do not align with what they are searching for, so we are not competing. 

 

Realistically, this is not a way to get rich. The amount of worthless books that have to be reviewed to find something valuable hardly justifies the effort. There are piles of paperback novels, self-help guides, old textbooks, and cookbooks. None of these are worth anything to a book collector. 

 

In perhaps 30 years of visiting thrift shops, yard sales, and such like, I can count on one hand the number of times that I have found a book sufficiently underpriced to make it worth reselling. In one such instance, I actually gifted the book to my Mother instead of selling it at a significant profit. 😀 

 

 

 

[zylon]

On 1/12/2023 at 11:54 PM, T.A.P. said:

Eh, if I was going to get one, I wouldn't want a PAL unit.

I'm also not tech savvy enough to repair one if it breaks down, or if I got one that arrived broken.

 

Truth be told, between the prices and the repairs and everything else people have mentioned, I'm discouraged from trying to get a Commodore 64. 

Any from this post, would be a solid fair value- 

 

[T.A.P.]

Thanks for the link!

[RobertB]

On 1/14/2023 at 7:46 PM, carlsson said:

The reason why sellers at an event would not want to sell way below online market value, is that profiting resellers visit those events too, in hope to score a bargain in order to resell it when they get home.

Yeah, we have one or two people who come to the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show in order to buy cheap (or even win the raffle) and then resell at a much higher price.

 

I really don't like helping resellers,

Robert Bernardo

Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

April 15-16 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2023 - http://www.portcommodore.com/class

[+OLD CS1]

2 hours ago, RobertB said:

Yeah, we have one or two people who come to the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show in order to buy cheap (or even win the raffle) and then resell at a much higher price.

I would ban these f-ers.

[carlsson]

With 1000 people visiting an event, it can become hard to identify the misbehaving ones, in particular if the resale happens online up to 2-3 weeks later.

 

[+OLD CS1]

48 minutes ago, carlsson said:

With 1000 people visiting an event, it can become hard to identify the misbehaving ones, in particular if the resale happens online up to 2-3 weeks later.

I am assuming it is the same people over and over.  A seasoned seller can smell these people a mile away.  They should be hog tied, ear tagged, a penis drawn on their face with UV marker, and booted out the door.